Supreme Court of North Carolina, 1915

Burris v. . Bush

Supreme Court of North Carolina · Decided December 8, 1915 · ALLEN, J.

87 S.E. 97; 170 N.C. 394; 1915 N.C. LEXIS 411 (South Eastern Reporter)

Cases that cite this one

1 later published case cites this decision.

Thompson v. SEABOARD AIR LINE RAILROAD COMPANY (N.C. 1958)

This list shows which later cases cite this one. It does not say how they treated it, and no review of that has been done. Not a substitute for Shepard’s or KeyCite — verify before relying.

Opinion of the Court

The statute (Rev., sec. 502) permits a defendant in actions for libel or slander to allege "both the truth of the matter charged as defamatory and any mitigating circumstances to reduce the amount of the damages; and, whether he prove the justification or not, he may give in evidence the mitigating circumstances," but, in the absence of a plea in justification or mitigation, evidence of the truth of the charge is incompetent. Upchurchv. Robertson, 127 N.C. 128; Dickerson v. Dial, 159, N.C. 541.

It follows that there is no error in excluding the evidence offered by the defendant.

No error.

Cited: Elmore v. R. R., 189 N.C. 673 (f); Pentuff v. Park, 194 N.C. 158 (f); Bryant v. Reedy, 214 N.C. 753 (f).

Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.